New Orleans Recipes For Spring

It’s spring time here in New Orleans. Besides an occasional rain fall of epic proportions like yesterday, spring means perfectly sunny weather with mild temperatures and a winning combination for outdoor activities like crawfish boils, Strawberry Fest and other excuses to enjoy the beautiful weather.

If you’re not in New Orleans, (whether you had to move away or because you haven’t you moved here yet) you can still get a taste of the spring weather and festival season no matter where you live now.

It’s crawfish season and if you can get fresh crawfish where you live, there is no excuse why you shouldn’t invite some friends over and have a boil. All the equipment that you need is a large cooking pot with a wire basket big enough to hold 25 pounds of crawfish and a small outdoor propane cooker. Trust me, it’ll be worth the small investment.

Here's proof that you don't have to be in Louisiana for a crawfish boil. Check out the picture to the right. Judy Weitz, the founder of Experience New Orleans said "You can't take the crawfish boil out of transplanted New Orleanians! My son was transferred to D.C. after Hurricane Katrina and now gets his crawfish air-shipped to him and it's a hit to all of his friends and neighbors!"

If you’re not feeling adventurous enough for a crawfish boil, this one only requires a 5-quart Dutch Oven and other standard kitchen equipment. The result is a delicious casserole that will make the whole family happy. A word of warning, if you’re not from Louisiana, you may want to leave out the cayenne pepper or at least cut back on it.

You already have to great spring/fest recipes for the main course, but you need a dessert no matter what you end up cooking. Strawberries are ripe here and ready for the picking. This recipe takes the standard beignet recipe and adds a strawberry twist. In other words it’s delicious and awesome!

For more Louisiana recipes including Cajun, Creole and especially New Orleans, check out the recipe page.